It was a see-saw tie, a tale of three penalties; two scored, one by each team and a third given and then taken away, the most dramatic momentum shift inside a couple of minutes towards the end, the incident that stood to redefine the tie suddenly rubbed out.
It was a night when the controversy pulsed and if it lacked the beauty of Paris Saint-Germain versus Bayern Munich from the other Champions League semi-final first-leg it still had drama; knife-edge tension.
Arsenal grew into the occasion and they merited the half-time lead that Viktor Gyökeres gave them from the spot. He won the penalty himself and there was an emphasis on him proactively doing so. Atlético Madrid felt he had bought the decision after getting on the wrong side of the defender, David Hancko.
When Gyökeres blasted home, it was probably his best moment in an Arsenal shirt – his 19th goal of a sometimes difficult debut season. His 12 in the Premier League have come almost entirely against opponents in the bottom half of the table, the penalty against Bournemouth the exception. It is a slightly different story in the Champions League. He scored two against Atlético in the league phase plus one against Inter Milan. Now this.
Atlético fought back in the second-half, the excellent Julián Alvarez equalising after another letter of the law penalty decision and they were in the ascendancy when the air suddenly seemed to be sucked out of this atmospheric bowl. The delayed cheer that you heard came from the Arsenal fans and it followed the third penalty award by the Dutch referee, Danny Makkelie. He felt that the hapless Hancko had left something on the Arsenal substitute, Eberechi Eze, who tumbled to the ground.
It was the 78th minute and the prompt for an extraordinary scene. Makkelie was advised by the video assistant to review his decision on the pitchside monitor and, as he did so over and over again, the whistles from Atlético supporters were ear-splitting. And what about Diego Simeone? The Atlético manager was never going to wait quietly. He implored Makkelie to reverse the decision and, when that happened after the umpteenth replay, the relief of everyone connected to Atlético exploded like a firecracker.
Simeone’s Arsenal counterpart, Mikel Arteta, raged. The contact was plainly there by Hancko on Eze so how could the penalty be taken away? There was no clear and obvious error so why the overrule? The arguments raged long into the night.
Atlético might have pinched victory at the very end when Nahuel Molina, on as a substitute, fizzed just over. Arsenal wanted more, their anger with the officials a major theme. But the draw was about right on balance. Atlético were the better team in the second half, creating chances; there were heart-stopping moments for Arsenal. Arteta and his players have the edge ahead of next Tuesday’s return.
Arteta’s stated aim had been to get on the front foot and dominate and it was a blow to him that Bukayo Saka and Eze were fit enough only to be among the substitutes. Kai Havertz was missing altogether. What Arteta really wanted were periods of possession to draw Atlético’s sting, to cool the passions in the stands, and he got more and more of that as the first half wore on. Declan Rice was prominent, cool and collected on the ball, and Arsenal’s movement was good. The options were there.
Atlético flickered in the early going, Arsenal a little loose at first. Rice had to block from Alvarez and the Atlético dangerman also worked David Raya from the edge of the area. Gradually, Arsenal took control. Gyökeres’s first good moment came when he outmuscled Marcos Llorente and pulled back for Martin Ødegaard, whose shot was blocked by Johnny Cardoso. It was a good chance. Noni Madueke also fired just past the far post on the half hour.
The first penalty stemmed from Arsenal’s increasing control. Atlético could not get out and when Arsenal regained the ball and worked it up and into the box, Martín Zubimendi playing the final pass, Gyökeres had the position on Hancko, whose efforts to rectify the situation were clumsy. Gyökeres felt the contact from behind and went down. The power in his conversion from the spot brooked no argument.
Simeone knew he had to change things for the second half and his move was dramatic. He hooked his son, Guiliano, from the right wing and introduced an extra centre-half in Robin Le Normand. Llorente was essentially given the whole of the right flank; a wing-back come right winger.
Atlético were immediately better and the stadium bounced to a delirious beat after Alvarez lashed home his penalty. Moments earlier, Ademola Lookman had been denied by Raya and Antoine Griezmann could not convert the rebound. He appeared to want too much time and Gabriel Magalhães blocked.
The second penalty was one for the sticklers. Ben White knew nothing about the ball-smashed-hard-at-his-hand moment after an Atlético corner. It was Llorente with the shot and White was found guilty by the video assistant as his hand was stretched low and away from his body. Alvarez’s penalty was emphatic and Atlético scented blood.
Griezmann hit the crossbar with a wonderfully floated effort and, seconds later, blasted in a volley that deflected wide. And when Lookman got the better of White in the 74th minute, he seemingly had to score. Instead, he shot too close to Raya.
Cue the moment that sparked Arsenal’s regrets. It was chaos until Makkelie drew the outline of a TV screen with his fingers and ruled out the penalty. Arsenal will be fuelled by injustice in the second leg.
